Driving Instructor THE VOICE OF THE PROFESSIONAL DRIVING INSTRUCTOR COGNITION HOW OUR BRAIN EFFECTS OUR DRIVING ISSUE TEN 2019 p01_Instructor_2019_Issue10.indd 1 18/10/2019 2:57 pm INSTRUCTOR CONTENTS ADI GUEST SPEED OF 06 NEWS 16 COMMENT 25 SIGHT Driving examiners to say goodbye to the Jim Milton wonders whether fraudulent Kathy Manson attends a special track day at clipboard and pen, 33 new drivers a day bike instruction is on the increase and the Three Sisters circuit in Wigan organised by have licence revoked and more. discusses the risks of this. charity Speed of Sight. BUSINESS KING’S COGNITION: AN ESSENTIAL 15 HELPDESK 18 COMMENT 29 DRIVING SKILL Keith Halstead takes us through the Edmund King OBE gives us the results of Tom Harrington explores the extent cognitive process of equity release as one way to some recent AA research into the varying functioning influences driving involvement and finance your retirement. levels of risk faced by certain demographics. its impact on driving. CHIEF EXECUTIVE THE VIRTUAL WELCOME TO 16 REPORT 21 DRIVING SCHOOL 35 DIA ACADEMY Carly Brookfield urges driver trainers to look Carly Brookfield shows you how to take We’ll soon be launching DIA Academy – an more closely at risk management, and not just learning from the road to the information online centre of learning in the field of driver as part of the standards check. superhighway. and rider education and training. 21 35 04 Driving Instructor p04_05_Instructor_Issue10.indd 1 18/10/2019 3:00 pm WORKING MONTH FINAL 38 KNOWLEDGE 48 IN NEWS 70 WORD It’s your last chance to book your place at Changes to car finance commission, grey is Depression, stress and anger can make one of our DIA Conferences and we’ve got a UK’s top car colour, drivers spend two years drivers more likely to have accidents, says special discount offer for you. behind the wheel and more. Carrot Insurance. ATTENTION DIAMOND 41 SPAN 51 COMMENT Follow us Kev and Tracey Field from Confident Drivers Chloe Denny gives us her top tips for look at how a learner driver’s attention might driving safely at Halloween, the spookiest facebook.com/ influence their driving lessons. time of the year. drivinginstructorsassociation ON EQUAL KEEP THE WHEELS twitter.com/the_DIA 42 TERMS 52 TURNING James Whalen gives an overview of equality Auto Express asks if your wheel bearings are youtube.com/user/ and diversity and outlines relevant legislation becoming unbearable and offers a handy guide drivinginstruction and examples of different forms. that teaches you all you need to know. 29 42 47 driving Driving Instructor 05 p04_05_Instructor_Issue10.indd 2 18/10/2019 3:00 pm The largest driver trainer news resource adinews.co.uk Driving examiners to say goodbye to the clipboard and pen Successful learners will receive their investing in technology and replacing the the 1.9 million car driving tests they carry full driving licences quicker as driving clipboard and pen we are helping speed up out each year. The form is tick box based examiners start marking the car driving the time it takes a new-qualified driver to and is used to mark against pre-set driving test digitally, DVSA has announced. receive their driving licence. assessment standards, such as control of Driving examiners are now using “The app will modernise the way our the vehicle and observations. tablets to mark the driving test digitally examiners work, making it easier for them Currently, DVSA manually collates test as part of a phased roll out. A specially to carry out their jobs.” results and then sends them electronically developed app is replacing the clipboard Carly Brookfield, DIA’s CEO said: “It’s to the DVLA who issue the licences. The and pen. good to finally see the digitisation of the app will remove the need for a paper trail Shifting to the paperless test report will practical test fully launched. and help to reduce the time it takes DVSA mean learners will receive an electronic “Thousands of people hours were to send test results to DVLA. summary report of their test that they can spent on the previous manual inputting The app has been designed in line with review with their instructor, pass or fail, to of test data. With examiners now able government digital service standards and discuss which areas of their driving could to key test results straight into a digital is set be rolled out to all DVSA examiners be further improved. framework via an iPad in the vehicle, the by the end of the year. The driving test and what learners are delivery and accuracy of test results, and ADIs and other accompanying drivers assessed on is not changing. ultimately someone’s licence, will be vastly such as friends and family, are not allowed Chief driving examiner Mark Winn improved. We’ve been closely involved in to use a tablet while supervising a learner said: “DVSA’s priority is to help everyone the development of the app and welcome driver as it is illegal. through a lifetime of safe driving. its introduction.” DVSA will continuously improve how “We’re committed to providing the Driving examiners currently use a the app works for car tests, and look to roll best possible service for customers. By paper form (DL25) to record the results of it out to other test categories later. 06 Driving Instructor p06_13_Instructor_2019_Issue10.indd 1 18/10/2019 3:01 pm 33 new drivers a day have licence revoked Data from last year shows 33 new drivers a day had their licence revoked after reaching six penalty points within two years of passing their driving test. This data was obtained by road safety charity Brake from the DVLA by a freedom of information request. The FOI revealed that 11,953 new drivers had their licence revoked under the New Drivers Act in 2018, with drivers aged 17-24 making up almost two thirds (62%) of the total. Drivers aged 17-24 are disproportionately at risk on Britain’s roads. They represent nearly a fifth of all drivers killed and seriously injured on the roads but make up only 7% of all licence holders. Under the New Drivers Act, drivers who get six or more penalty points within two years of passing their test have their licence revoked. If they wish to drive again, they are required to re-apply and pay for a new provisional licence and pass both theory and practical parts of the driving or riding test again. Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, said: “It’s Fortunately, there is a proven solution which can deliver this, shocking that so many new drivers are racking up enough penalty Graduated Driver Licensing. points to have their licences revoked so soon after passing their test, “The government’s announcement that they will explore the in particular those in the 17-24 age bracket. It clearly demonstrates issue of GDL further is welcome. Swift and decisive action must, that we need to make our licensing system more robust so that however, be taken to introduce GDL across the UK, as a priority to when a driver passes their test, they have all the necessary tools ensure new drivers have the skills and experience they need and to and knowledge to drive safely on all roads and in all conditions. end the tragedy of young people dying on our roads.” Birmingham toughest place to pass driving test Birmingham is the most difficult place to pass your test in the UK, a new survey has found. Veygo analysed pass rates from every test centre in the UK and found Birmingham (the Pavilion) has the lowest pass rate in the country at 29.6%. Birmingham (South Yardley) has the second lowest pass rate at 32.3%. Inverary has the highest pass rate at 84.9%, followed by Mallaig at 83.3%. The survey also found that 53% of drivers think that the age limit on learning to drive should be raised to 18. It also revealed that 47% of drivers believe that drivers shouldn’t have to retake their tests at any point, while 20% think a retest should occur every 20 years. The amount of drivers that pass their test first time is 42.4%, with 17-25 year olds having the highest first time pass rate at 46.6%. Driving Instructor 07 p06_13_Instructor_2019_Issue10.indd 2 18/10/2019 3:01 pm High numbers of learners harassed on the roads New research from Marmalade has found that 77% of UK driving despite them being fully qualified drivers, and there being no instructors regularly experience abuse and intimidation from change in their driving ability to when they drive without an other road users when teaching students. L-Plate, where they don’t get abused. The survey of 610 driving instructors also found: Three in 10 motorists witnessed physical abuse ■ 31% experience abuse and intimidation on a daily basis This news comes as the RAC revealed that three in 10 motorists ■ 91% of learners have been subjected to overtaking say they have personally witnessed some form of physical abuse ■ 90% witness tailgating related to a driving incident in the past 12 months. ■ Two thirds (66%) of learners have been subject to The RAC’s 2019 survey also found that almost half report abusive hand gestures that they have seen verbal abuse dished out to another motorist ■ Half (49%) have experienced verbal abuse on the roads this year. There is a widespread feeling among drivers that standards Respondents also revealed how this behaviour affects their of behaviour on our roads have deteriorated significantly: 76% students.